Writing out laughter in tickle stories?

[Madame_T]

So I'm writing another (loosely truth based) tickle story and am wondering about people's preferences. When you reading a tickle story, do you prefer the laughter be written out (like "hahaha" or similar) or do you prefer the laughter is described by the narrator (aka she screamed/squealed/burst with laughter) or a mix of both? I tend to prefer the latter because I can put my imagination to use but I'm wondering what others think...

 

[solarcharger]

A mix of both makes it a very enjoyable read.

 

[milagros317]

As a writer and as a reader, I have always preferred a description, such as "he laughed loudly at first, but, as breathing became more difficult, after five minutes was reduced to silent laughter as tears streamed down his cheeks."

 

[suikoden]

Having written a bunch of stories over the years, I started using too much of the 'hhahahaha...' stuff. It's a bit like writing a gunfight as 'bang bang boom babang pew pew.'

I much prefer to write (and read) descriptions of laughter that show rather than tell. Off the top of my head something like... 'Tabitha's body shook with silent laughter, teeth bared, cheeks red as her tormentor's scarlet fingernails danced up and down her delicate ribs. Tabitha inhaled deeply and let out of keening wail of laughter that signalled her desperation and submission to the sensations wracking her body and threatening to rob her of her very sanity. Magda tightened her knees against the blonde girl's hips and chuckled at her victim's distress...'

I dunno, something like that? It's late here and I'm dosed up on cold meds.

 

[Studious_Hustler]

¿Porque no los dos?

 

[GhostOS]

Having now dabbled in writing myself, and having tried both approaches, I'd say a mix of both works well. I do prefer the descriptive approach, which has a more literary feel to it, but there's only so many synonyms and possible ways to describe laughter. This becomes a problem in longer stories (approaching 10K words) where it all sounds a bit repetitive. So yeah, the "AhahahaHAHAHA nohohot mahaha toehohohos!" Has it's place here and there.

 

[laughtermech]

I agree with those who’ve chimed in with the ‘both approach’. Great question and thread. Thanks for starting, Madame_T🙏